Health Minister Yuli Edelstein announced on Wednesday that he has selected Prof. Chezy Levy, the medical director of the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, as the health ministry’s director-general, replacing outgoing Director-General Moshe Bar Siman-Tov.

Levy, 64, is a surgeon and has been serving as the director of Barzilai since 2012. He served in the IDF medical corps in the first Lebanon war and then served as the head of an IDF delegation providing humanitarian assistance in Kosovo and participating in humanitarian medical aid missions in Zaire, Kenya, Macedonia, Turkey and Rwanda. Levy retired as IDF chief medical officer in 2007 and then served as a senior official in the Health Ministry before becoming the director of Barzilai.

Levy’s “life project” was his development and establishment of the fortified underground emergency room and surgical wards in Barzilai, which were necessary due to the constant bombardment of rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel. The department is regarded as the most technologically sophisticated and protected emergency department in the world.

שמח לבשר כי בחרתי במנהל בית החולים ברזילי, פרופ' חזי לוי, למנכ"ל משרד הבריאות.
הניסיון הרב שצבר לאורך השנים והצלחותיו בזירות השונות מבטיחות את הצלחתו בתפקיד החשוב, במיוחד בעת כזו, עם הצורך להתכונן לגל שני של נגיף הקורונה ועם הצבתה של מערכת הבריאות בראש סדר העדיפויות.
חזי, בהצלחה! pic.twitter.com/wtWNQYJF3d

— Yuli Edelstein 🇮🇱 יולי אדלשטיין (@YuliEdelstein) May 27, 2020

“I’m happy to announce that I’ve chosen the director of Barzilai Hospital, Prof. Chezi Levy, as the health ministry’s director-general,” Edelstein stated.

“The extensive experience he’s garnered over the years and his successes in various arenas ensure his success in this important role, especially at a time like this, with the need to prepare for a second wave of the coronavirus and the placing of the health system as top priority. Chezi, b’hatzlacha!”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)